


Ten Days in Golden Halls

by TheWriterValkyrie



Series: Saga of Steel [2]
Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Warframe
Genre: Gen, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, Please Don't Kill Me, What Have I Done, absolute crack, novice writer please have mercy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:14:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 16,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23093884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWriterValkyrie/pseuds/TheWriterValkyrie
Summary: The Lotus calls up Oberon and sends his team along with a newly reformed Alad V on an important defense mission that turns out to be far more than any of them could have bargained for.
Series: Saga of Steel [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1743274
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. The Lotus's Gift

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in collaboration with my Warframe friend, so thanks to him for being a stalwart friend and writing partner. You go my dude.
> 
> Comments always wanted and welcome, constructive critique always welcome, and thank you for reading.
> 
> Update schedule will be 3 chapters a day.

Oberon sat peacefully in his Orbiter, stroking the head of Sceolang, one of his kubrows, and watching the stars. The last few months had been...slow. No major crises, no big missions, just the average run and gun. His teammates were not enjoying this lull, and things were getting tense between them. Excalibur disliked the pause in training, Valkyr was practically bouncing off the walls from sheer frustration, so much so she was willingly having conversations with Alad V, the Lotus’s rehabilitation project, and Loki was beginning to get just a tad malicious in the small jokes he played on their friends. Even Oberon, who normally enjoyed the peace (and the increased time he could spend with Ivara) was ready to admit he was bored, which is why when the Lotus finally phoned in with an important mission, he jumped on the chance. 

_ “Oberon.”  _ a gentle voice shook him out of his zoned out frame of mind.

“Yes, Lotus? What do you need?” he questioned respectfully, but internally jumping at the chance to do  _ something _ .

_ “I’ve got a job for you if you’re interested. It’s quite difficult, and I feel you’d be best suited.”  _

“That would depend on the task at hand, Lotus.” he replied, measured.  
  
_“Two cryopods. I’ve found_ two _of them. Both in an Orokin ruin.”_ she said, a hint of excitement in her voice. _“Each holding an exceptionally powerful frame that should bolster your ranks nicely if you can help them readjust properly. Seeing how well you’ve helped Excalibur, I could think of no one better.”_

“Are you sure that I’m the one for this mission, Lotus?” Oberon questioned, starting to feel a bit nervous. “There are other frames more powerful than I am, and besides, there has never been  _ two _ cryopods before.”

_ "Indeed, the situation is very unusual. The frames are a pair, like siblings, a brother and a sister, and I'm not asking you to do it alone. Take your teammates, because tenno work best together."  _

Oberon relaxed, the knot in his stomach slightly subsiding. “Thank you, Lotus. Where will the mission take place?”

_ "A new point in the Void, not yet even named. Ordis will mark it for you.” _

“Thank you, Lotus. Is there anything else?”

_ "Yes, there is."  _ At that, she gave him a mischievous smile.  _ "I want you to bring Alad along." _

Oberon started at this. “Are you sure, Lotus? He’s not much of a fighter…”

_ "I'm sure. Besides, you seem to be getting along with him. Giving him that zaw was very kind."  _

“Oh, that was just one I had laying around. They tend to build up a bit…”

_ "Regardless, bring him along." _

“Of course, Lotus.” Oberon wasn’t overjoyed that Alad V would be coming with them, but he couldn’t really complain. Alad had a side that the others hadn’t seen yet. Lotus had seen it, seen... _ something  _ in him that was worth saving, and it might prove very useful on the mission.

_ "Now that everything is in order, assemble your team and head out. Prepare well, and good luck, my dear Tenno, all of you."  _ she said, with a pleasant warmth in her voice.

“Thank you Lotus. We’ll do our best.” 

She gave him a proud, motherly smile as she cut out, and he quickly messaged the others to meet at Larunda Relay. The spell of nothingness was about to be broken.


	2. Larunda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The squad is assembled

“Your eyes look weird.” Valkyr said, gripping Alad’s face hard enough he felt like his jaw would break with one hand, and propping his eye open with the other, pushing the lids back with her sharp fingertips. She peered at his silver iris like it was an undiscovered species. 

“Fascinating, now please let go of me before you gouge my eye out!” he squeaked.

“I didn’t think humans could have silver eyes, or whatever you are, and-stop flailing around!”

Oberon stood in the doorway, questioning what he was bearing witness to. It was already strange to see the new almost-friendship between Valkyr and Alad V, but it was even stranger to see him pinned against a wall with his eyeball nearly popping out of the socket.

“Let him go Valkyr, you damn kavat-in-a-frame.” 

“Meow.” she replied in her sassy way, dropping a sputtering Alad. He scuttled backwards and whipped out his zaw, Icefall.

“Try that again and I’ll open you up a second time.” he spat.

“Try that and I’ll break your spine over my knee!” she shot back, fists clenched. 

Oberon stepped between the two, holding his arms out, not that he thought they would come to blows, but if he let them go on, it was likely they’d argue back and forth for about an hour, and that was time he didn’t want to waste. 

“Alright kids, break it up, we’ve got work to do.”

“A mission?” Valkyr asked excitedly.

“Yep, straight from the Lotus herself,” Oberon replied.

“Well, what mission is it?” Valkyr was literally shaking from excitement. 

“It’s a defense mission, somewhere in an Orokin ruin. Lotus found two cryopods. Two of them. We need to get there, find them, then wait for them to wake up. All while battling who-knows-how-many enemies.”

Valkyr suddenly wasn’t as excited. She was hoping for more of a hack-and-slash type mission, or a spy mission. Not a mission where they could literally be there for a week or more, waiting for someone to decide to wake up and open their cryopod. 

“There’s more,” Oberon exclaimed. “Lotus wants Alad to come along.”

Valkyr looked up, surprised. “He’s not a fighter, though. Are you, Alad?”

“I don’t excel at hand-to-hand combat, but I can get by, no matter who underestimates me. And, I may also have some secrets at hand,” Alad proclaimed proudly.

“Well, that’s not suspicious at all,” Valkyr said.

“Regardless, we have our orders, and it’s probably in our best interest to follow them. I don’t like to disappoint the Lotus, especially not on a mission so important.”

Valkyr wasn’t yet satisfied, though. “So, if we’re defending two cryopods, how many people are we gonna need? You do know who is coming, right?”

Oberon considered it. “Yes, I’ve given that some thought. First off, Excalibur could use the opportunity, and Loki needs the excuse to get out. Both are packing some serious weapons at the moment, so I think we’ll be fine.” Then he remembered something that Alad had told him. “Oh, and Alad will also be bringing along some… extra goodies.”

Valkyr rolled her eyes. “Sure, okay. Why do you get to have all the fun?”

Light laughter rolled out of Oberon. “Are you saying you aren’t having fun?”

“I’m just happy to be doing something, old man,” Valkyr sniggered. “And you’re right about Loki. I rang him up a day ago and he seems...how do I put this nicely?” She pauses. “Nevermind, I can’t put it nicely. He seems like the stench of kavat puke in a bag that hasn’t been opened yet.”

“He seems like he moved into the looney bin with Nef Anyo.” Alad suggested.

“Yeah, that works.” 

“That bad? Is it just me or is he getting worse?” Oberon asked, concerned for his volatile teammate.

“Well, he’s always been a loose cannon, but lately he’s been getting a little too violent with his pranks. The other day he sprayed acid all over Saryn’s orbiter, after convincing her to let him on board.”

“Well, yeah, but nobody minded because nobody likes Saryn. I meant...I don’t know, it almost feels like there’s something else driving him up the wall. It’s like watching your kubrow try and scratch at a spot just out of their reach.”

“Well, it’s like that but not funny.”

“Indeed. It’s almost like...he’s becoming someone else. Taking on their personality. It sounds like that magic nonsense that humans made up a long time ago, and yet that’s what it seems to be.”

“But magic isn’t real. So he’s just going nuts then?”

“Magic is just technology that we don’t understand yet.”Alad piped up.

“Prime corpus line there, I thought we were getting you away from that.”

“That wasn’t Corpus indoctrination. That was knowledge and experience.”

“Uh huh. Anyway, where’s Excalibur and our former subject of speculation?” Valkyr asked, getting impatient.

“They’re on their way, I already sent them messages.” Oberon was also getting impatient, as he was anxious to start the mission.

“I’m here!” Excalibur slid to a stop and hopped back onto his feet, his massive kubrow trotting behind him. “Verdandi was being stubborn. As usual, and she looks entirely too smug about being a pain in the ass.” 

“This is why kavats are better.” Valkyr said, stroking Clauidus’s black and white pelt.

“Kubrows don’t go out of their way to knock everything over in my orbiter.” Oberon shot back.

“Kavats don’t leave a human mane’s worth of shed hair all over my orbiter!” Valkyr retorted. “They’re clearly better, right Excalibur?”

“Uh...I like both, to be honest.” he said quietly, only to be on the receiving end of a dual glare that could melt steel. “Well...uh...anyway is Loki here yet?”

“Surprisingly enough no. He’s bound to have gotten the message, but we don’t know where he is.” Oberon replied.

“Do you think he should even come?” Valkyr asked. “If he’s acting as funny as you say.”

“He’s our teammate, and besides, he’s probably just sick of having nothing to do like the rest of us.” Oberon answered reasonably.

“But what if he ends up being more of a hazard to us?”

“Well then, I suppose you’ll deal with me like you do all your other problems.” Loki answered her coldly, uncloaking himself, and sounding very hurt. 

“Ah, L-loki...I uh...it’s not what it sounds like!”

“And what would that be, then?”

“Well...I’m worried about both you and the rest of the team. I...well...I don’t want you to hurt someone or one of us hurting you.” 

“What makes you think that I’m going to hurt someone?”

“You’re acting kind of...bad..?”

“I’m acting bad!? At least I’m not talking shit about team members.” he spat, feeling like his chest was being crushed under the weight of an ancient. Did Valkyr really think he was so violent? Valkyr of all frames?

“Calm down Loki. What she means is...you've been getting very...cold, and aggressive lately, and she’s worried about that.” 

“Oh, wow, the creature built by the Corpus to kill Tenno is worried about my aggressiveness? Thank you for your concern, I’ll be just fine.”

“Loki! What are you saying? This is what she - we mean, you never talk like that!” Oberon barked, grabbing him by the shoulders. “What’s going on?” 

“Maybe the helpful influence of my teammates is finally getting through to me,” Loki snarled back at him. “Look, if you don’t want me around, just say so. I’ll take my leave, and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“Loki, we do want you around, we wouldn’t care how you’re acting if we didn’t care about you!” Valkyr said. “Let’s just get this mission done, and get out of there.”

Loki nodded wordlessly and walked over to Excalibur, back turned to everyone. This was already going well, Oberon thought sarcastically.


	3. Day 1: The Windup and the Descent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki's acting weird and everything id already going sideways.

“Oh praise the void, it’s a fucking Orokin hall.” Loki said with contempt. “Shiny gold, creepy chanting, and twisting, maze-like hallways. Joy.” 

“It looks pretty, at least.” Excalibur said, looking up in awe at the vaulted ceilings. 

“How about you two stop yammering and help us!” Valkyr snapped, rattling off another volley with her Corinth before stowing it away and whipping out her signature claws. 

“I don’t know, should we help her? I mean, she is the oh-so-badass Valkyr, I’m sure she’ll be fine on her own.” Loki said. Excalibur nodded in agreement, laughing. Valkyr gave them both a glare that could kill.

“You bastards!” she yowled, picking up Excalibur and throwing him at Loki. The two rolled behind some pillars and Valkyr angrily went back to dismembering their enemies. 

"Did we piss her off?" Excalibur asked, sounding guilty.

"Oh yes, but that was the point." Loki replied, laughing.

“I feel sorry for you, Loki,” Oberon said. “I promise that you will regret treating her this way.”

"What does that mean, Bambi?" he inquired, an edge of anger in his voice.

“It means that I wouldn’t want Valkyr’s wrath kindled against me, and you have gone far beyond that,” Oberon stated. “You haven’t only offended her, you’ve offended her friends, who also happen to be your friends, and you did it without a second thought.”

"I'm only joking around, Oberon." 

“Well, thanks to your ‘joking around’, you’ve split up the team. So, thank you for that.”

Loki turned on his heel and stalked off to work on his own. Excalibur glanced between the two of them, looking worried.

"Er...what was that?"

Oberon sighed, looking down. “That is what happens when someone makes choices based on their ego, without taking other people into account. Never let your own pride go to your head, Excalibur. It is a fatal disease.”

"I see. Loki seems different from when I met him. Is there something wrong?"

“All I know is that he’s been gone a lot, lately. He hasn’t said anything to any of us, so nobody knew where to find him when I tried to get him to join this crew. He seems like he’s trying to cope with something, but it’s taking too big a toll on him.”

Excalibur just nodded, still staring in the direction Loki went.

"Can I stick with you? I'm not used to this many enemies…"

“Yes, that’s fine, but you will be pulling your own weight. Just because you are away from Umbra is no reason to forgo your training.”

"Right, yes, that's fair." Excalibur drew his Galatine and dashed after Oberon into the sea of gold-faced foes.


	4. Night 1: Only the Beginning

"W-what are we going to do? Neither cryopod opened up…" Excalibur questioned his teammates. He constantly cast quick, nervous glances around the now empty hall. They had been here for a whole day with almost nothing to show for it. Now, in Earth time, night was falling, and the golden hall was silent, the torrent of opponents having stopped for the time being.

Oberon and Excalibur were resting by the pods, casually chatting with Alad about his projects. He seemed surprised they cared to listen, much more surprised that they were even talking to him, but was more than happy to share about his doings.

“How are you liking your weird cat/kavat hybrid, Alad?” Excalibur asked with a smile.

"She knocks over everything, yet I can't stay angry at her."

“That’s just like me with Valkyr’s kavat Claudius. He messes with all of my stuff, but he’s too cute for me to get mad at.”

"Cute? The thing looks like he wants to put his teeth in your neck and suck your blood."

“He only drinks fish blood, slimey, rotten Corpus juice doesn’t interest him.” Valkyr piped up, stroking Claudius’s long, batlike ears while he rested contentedly in her lap, purring. 

“Good to know.” Alad said dryly.

“Are you alright, Excalibur? I know you have never faced the hordes like that before,” Oberon asked him, concerned.

“Well it’s...stressful, that’s for certain, and these are...really creepy.” He shuddered, thinking about their lifeless gold-masked faces.

“Well, it is something you can get used to, but you never are really comfortable with it. In order to be comfortable taking a life, something must be wrong with your mind. I hope you never go that far.” Oberon placed his hand on Excalibur’s shoulder. “You may be the best of us, yet.”

“O-oh I...thank you, Oberon.” he stuttered, surprised, yet quite pleased with the high praise.

“How did you fare, Valkyr?”

“Hanging in there...bored out of my helmet. By the Lotus I hate defense missions, even when they don’t extend into another day. How long do you think we’ll be stuck here?”

“I don’t know; Lotus never told me. All she seemed worried about was that there were two pods, and that the Corpus or Grineer hadn’t gotten them yet. So, we could be here for a while.”

“Dammit! I don’t want to stay here another night, this place is creepy and- where’s Loki?” she bolted upright and looked around. 

“Maybe he went home,” a voice said from a corner of the room. “Maybe he didn’t want any part in this, and he left.” A few mournful notes of a Shawzin echoed from the darkest parts of the room, along with the soft jingle of the rings on his helmet as he tilted his head.

“Hilarious,” Valkyr said, deadpan.

“Just because you act all tough doesn’t mean that you aren’t feeling it like the rest of us are, Valkyr,” Loki said, his head hanging.

“I never said I wasn’t, pull the stick out your ass, please.” 

“Valkyr, please stop keeping the squabble up and try to get along. We would all appreciate it,” Oberon scolded her.

“He started it!”

“So this is why Umbra thinks you act like kids.” Alad said, studying the curved blade of Icefall.

“Valkyr, I know that you’re a lone wolf most of the time, but on this mission we need to be a team. We could be overcome if we aren’t operating as a unit,” Oberon told her, getting defensive.

“I know, I know. I’m not the problem here, Loki is!” 

“I think you’re both the problem.” Excalibur piped up quietly, hiding behind Verdandi.

“Excalibur is right. Don’t be so eager for a fight, Valkyr, Loki. It will get you into trouble one day. Maybe sooner than you think.” Oberon told them sternly.

“Right, sorry.” Valkyr said, sounding genuinely remorseful. Loki, on the other hand, pointedly ignored him, instead launching into “Sakura '' on his shawzin. Oberon watched, his hands clenched behind his back. Nothing could soothe the thought that there was something very wrong with his usually gentle friend, and the knot in his deepest recesses coiled tighter with dread.


	5. Day 2: The First Dawn

“Rise and shine, motherfucker!” Valkyr said cheerfully, shaking Alad awake. “I forgot you guys had to sleep. What’s it like?” 

“Peaceful, dark, except if you dream. Those get weird. Other than that, it’s something I wish you hadn’t woken me up from.” 

“Well, if you wish I didn’t do it, maybe you should have been up by now, because the enemy is on their way,” Valkyr told him pointedly.

“Alright, alright, keep your head on.” he said, standing blearily and rubbing his eyes. 

“Time to wreak some havoc!” Oberon said. “...Where’s Loki?”

“I’m right here, Bambi,” Loki said, turning corporeal. 

“...Where were you?”

“Nowhere important.”

Oberon facepalmed but said nothing. The first wave was beginning to trickle in. 

They spent the day hacking, slashing, and exchanging blows with the enemy, both physically and verbally. Valkyr got angry enough for the whole squad, while Oberon stayed his level-headed self. Excalibur was frantic, trying to keep himself together, but unable to stay the onslaught of enemies. Loki stayed invisible for the most part, much to the chagrin of Valkyr, who kept trying to hit him, but never quite managed. Alad kept to his usual perch atop the pedestal the two cryopods were fixed to, content to keep an eye on the battle from there while he tinkered with something.


	6. Night 2: Down the Hall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Excalibur trips balls but he doesn't realize it

“Aaaaaand we’re running out of ammo. Great.” Valkyr said, voice dripping sarcasm. “That means some brave soul is going to have to go on a little expedition. So, who wants to go locker raiding?” 

“I… is it dangerous?” Excalibur asked.

“Dangerous as hell, comrade. You in?”

“S-sure, yes, I’ll go.” he said, trying to sound braver than he felt.

“I don’t think anything will be too much of a threat for that monster you keep with you.” Alad pointed out.

“Verdandi is not a monster, she’s just...kind of... big.”

“That’s what I meant.”

“I mean...her head comes up to your shoulder. Gotta admit, not normal for a kubrow.” Valkyr added.

“You stay out of this, you’re biased!” 

“I am,” Valkyr laughed. 

“So I’m just going to take my gigantic and wonderfully fluffy kubrow and find so much ammo you’ll be swimming in it!” he proclaimed, marching off down a random hallway, Verdandi trotting faithfully behind him.

“You know, I doubt that you’ll find that much ammo. Besides, it’s not liquid, so you can’t swim in it.”

“Shut up!” He yelled down the hall.

At this point, Excalibur recognized that he sounded much braver than he felt. Talking about venturing alone into Orokin ruins was one thing, actually going was another. He decided not to tell anyone, in case they’d make fun of him. “It’s not like they need to know all about it, anyway,” he convinced himself. Verdandi walked by his side, looking content. At least he had her. She might be a pain in the ass, but she was a loyal companion, and a powerhouse of a kubrow.

Venturing through the halls, he saw the results of the ancient wars fought in this space. Holes in walls, doors half open, scorch marks on the floors. He began to get a tight knot inside of him, and started walking slower and slower, until Verdandi was bumping into him to try to speed him up.

“Sorry, girl, just nervous.” he scratched her behind the ear and picked up the pace again.

She whined at him. She was probably hungry, he thought. After all, they had been a little too busy during the day to find food for her, and the other pets. He added that to the list. Then, he spotted a room with lockers lining the walls, just ready to be opened and looted.

“Finally, some luck. After this I’ll see if I can scrape up anything for you to chew on, okay girl?” She barked happily at him.

After filling up with all the ammo he could carry, he ventured further into the ruins. The silence enveloped him, pressing against him, almost deafening. But then, he heard voices in the distance. And being that his squad was the opposite way, he began to get more nervous. “I was told that no one had inhabited these ruins for hundreds of years,” Excalibur thought to himself. He knew that he would have to investigate, for his and his friends safety. Clutching his Galatine tightly he sallied forward…

And found nothing. Well, almost nothing. He’s stumbled onto a room full of mirrors, all lined up on the wall. Strange, but then, the Orokin were always strange. He heard a whisper, like the rustling of silk, and that was all.

But then, he heard voices again, closer this time. He wondered if he was going crazy, losing his mind. But no, he could still hear them, almost challenging him to enter the mirrored hallway. He considered it for a moment.

He felt a tug on his Maharliqa syandana. Verdandi had one of the elegant ribbons clenched in her jaw, and was trying to pull him back. He relented, reluctant. Then, turning around, he saw another room, with tables, chairs, and food piled high on platters. But again, Verdandi pulled him back. She had a better head on her shoulders than he did, it seemed. Warframes didn’t eat.

He moved on, peering into another chamber. This one was very dimly lit, and the shadows dance on the walls, and bright, shiny eyes flickering in the corner. The dark seemed to whisper to him, call him, and he took a step forward, but Verdandi growled, showing her gums, and he backed out, reluctantly. 

His instincts screamed at him to turn and run, yet he couldn’t pull himself away. He found rooms strangled with massive, tangled roots breaking up the walls, or filled with a massive wall of water, that he thought he saw something staring back at him from.

Finally, at the end of a long hall, he came to a planter. This in itself wasn’t unusual, there were tons of these littered about the place, the ghostly plants they held reaching upwards like gnarled fingers. This one however, held something different.

Lycoris. Real ones, their red petals curling delicately. He’d seen the ruby blossoms among Oberon’s massive collection of plants before, but they didn’t smell right, like pine needles and...ashes? He grabbed one of the flowers, and added it to his collection of things he had found. He could ask Oberon about it when he returned.

He decided to turn back the way he came, in case he had missed something. It wouldn’t do for him to venture too far, anyway. What if he got lost? Verdandi led the way back to the others, and he wasn’t about to question her judgement.

“So, what did you find?” Valkyr asked, rubbing her hands together.

“Some creepy shit, ammo, and this flower.” he said. “Verdandi probably saved my hide back there.” 

“Why, what did you run into?” Oberon suddenly questioned him, concerned.

Excalibur launched into a rant about his short foray into the depths of the Orokin hall, and how Verdandi had kept him from doing something potentially very stupid. 

“She knew something I didn’t, could sense it, maybe. The weirdest part is, this is the only thing that’s real. This flower.”

“Let me see that!” Loki said out of nowhere. He snatched it and held it gently in his hand, running his fingers over the crimson blooms. 

“Where did you find this?” Loki whispered.

“In a planter at the end of a hallway, there were tons of them, growing like mad.”

“They don’t belong here.” he said quietly, walking off.

“ ...What was that about?” Valkyr aired. “Why would a flower interest him, more so than anything else here?”

“I don’t like this at all.” Oberon said, looking deep in thought. 

“Well, there isn’t much I like here, so deal with it,” Valkyr said. “It doesn’t look like we’re leaving anytime soon; I haven’t yet seen movement in the pods.”

“He is talking about Loki’s reaction to the flower, Valkyr,” Alad piped up, unexpectedly. “It is not native to these walls, so it must have been brought here, and recently, as it is in full bloom. The energies of this place soon choke out all plant life.”

“It’s almost like magic.” Oberon said. “But, the Orokin had powers all their own, and the ability to make things that still baffle us.”

“And it got them all in shallow graves.” Alad finished. 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, sunshine,” Valkyr sniggered at him.

"You'll have to forgive me, but this situation seems to only be getting worse," he replied. "Worse, and it will continue to deteriorate, so I hope you're ready for the long haul.”

“I hope you are joking, because I’m not sure how much more of this I can take,” Valkyr snorted, looking away.

"It's very ironic that the fleshy thing is holding up better than us." Loki said ruefully.

“I’m holding up better because I’ve done worse things than this before,” Alad said, “And I hope that this mission goes better than those did.”

"Oh yeah, like the time you became the Infested’s meat puppet?" Valkyr asked.

“Maybe there are worse things than death, Valkyr, as you well know.”

"Whatever, Meat Puppet."

"Wouldn't he be a Vegetable Puppet?" Oberon said, jumping into the teasing.

"DON'T. BRING. THAT. UP."

"Oh yeah, Salad V!"

"You make me regret not dissecting you more painfully." 

“Don’t rise to the bait, Valkyr, or we will never go home,” Oberon stepped between them. "If anyone starts a fight I'm sending them down the hallway Excalibur went down."

That shut both of them up quicker than Gauss himself.


	7. Day 3: Here we go Again

"Sorry about last night." While Alad didn't sound completely repentant, it was convincing enough that Valkyr decided to let it slide.

"Right, it's fine, today is a new day, yadda yadda. You look like something Claudius threw up. Are you ok?"

“I might be, I might not be. What would it matter to you, anyway?”

"Well firstly, Lotus is going to be royally pissed if you die. Second, you have become bearable as a mission companion, and my desire to see you kick the bucket is less than it was on Jupiter when I beat the tar out of you."

“Thank you for your concern, but I just didn’t get much sleep last night. Kept having strange dreams.”

"Aren't dreams supposed to be, like you ate those weird Earth mushrooms, anyway?"

“Those are hallucinations, dreams are different. Dreams are what happens when you are asleep, and your mind is free of your body. Sometimes, dreams can feel very frightening, or sometimes they can be comforting. These dreams are disturbing.”

"Hey guys, can we talk about Alad's head pictures later, Excalibur's getting his ass kicked!" 

"Shut up Loki!"

Valkyr and Oberon groaned simultaneously.

“Fine, Alad, until later. I won’t forget, either. I want to know about those dreams.”


	8. Night 3: No Rest for the Weary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alad and Valkyr have a little talk

Loki stroked the curling crimson petals of the Lycoris, the green stem clutched in his shaking hand. He didn’t know why, but this flower...it drew him. His insides writhed like snakes twining around each other in a dance, and his mind ran in circles like a kurbow chasing its tail. Maybe it was part of why he was acting so strangely. He was fully aware of the drastic shift in his behavior, his personality, but he didn’t know why it was happening. He didn’t like it either. He was hurting his friends, constantly pissing off Valkyr, and undermining their mission by causing so many conflicts, with no clue as to what was causing it, or how to stop himself. He wasn’t trying to act this way, he didn’t want to hurt anyone, and yet it seemed to spill out of him. He didn’t know who he could tell.

“What is wrong with me?” he whispered. 

He looked over at his friends, sitting around the cryopods, laughing, and felt very alone. But it was probably for the best he stayed away and kept his mouth shut, lest he start even more problems. It was better this way, even if it cut him deep to know he was such a hazard to the ones he cared about. He whispered an apology nobody could hear, and turned away.

“...and then ran face first into Sargas Ruk’s chest, which, while absolutely doing some damage, is not what I think he was going for.” Oberon finished.

“Ah, poor Gauss. He never can hit his breaks, can he?” Valkyr asked through her laughter.

“Apparently not."

“You did kill him though, right?” Excalibur asked.

“Oh they did, but he was re-cloned within a month and raving about it so loudly even the Corpus heard it. Of course, he lost some of his credibility thanks to being taken out like that.” Alad answered with a wry smile as he tinkered with something from atop the cryopod pedestal. “He doesn’t carry the same weight he used to, and now he’s become something of a laughing stock.”

“Oh how the mighty have fallen. I’m glad I don’t have to fight him” 

“Yet. You don’t have to fight him yet because he’d serve you your own ass on a silver plate, but you probably will, one day.” Valkyr said, patting him on the shoulder. That ended their conversation for the night. Oberon took up his usual post between the north and west entrances, Excalibur in the south and eastern, Valkyr by the cryopods and everyone fell quiet for several hours. 

“Valkyr?” Alad whispered

“Huh? Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Can’t. I’m thinking and I need to bounce them off someone.”  
  
“Shoot. It’s too quiet anyway.”

“Why is your Lotus called...Lotus?”  
  
“...What?” Valkyr sat up, attentive now.

“I mean...that’s a very specific flower that has a lot of myth and lore behind it, along with some interesting traits, and I just feel like...I don’t know, it feels too on purpose.”

“I never thought about that…”

“Figures.”

“Hey! If you want somebody who knows flowers, ask Oberon!”  
  
“I did. Maybe you’re all too biased.” 

“Maybe, but as...strange as Lotus can be sometimes, I trust her. I don’t have Loki’s devotion to her, but she really cares about us, and has never given any of us reason not to.”

“I...I see. Still, you have to admit she can be...rather shady.”

“Says the Corpus.”

“Touche.” 

“As long as you’re interrogating me, I’d like to ask you something.”

“Huh? Go ahead.”

“Why do you talk in your sleep?”

“That can be difficult to answer, as I don’t know. There are various causes, though. Past memories, dreams, things like that.”

“Well, it was something I heard you say, actually, that I wanted to ask you about.”

“Okay, go right ahead.”

“You said something about Loki involving, um, Rag-a-rock?”

“Well that’s weird. I’ve never actually dreamed about him. You, especially being speared on the ends of your claws, sure. Never him. That’s...unsettling.” 

“Oh well, I was hoping to get something more about it besides the whole ‘end of the world’ speech you threw in after it.”

“End of the world? Damn. It looks like I’ve got to gag myself when I sleep now.”

“Yes, I do recommend that.”

“Thanks.”


	9. Day 4: Guess I'll Die

The sounds of fighting echoed through the ruins. While the squad could easily handle it, the time spent in space was starting to grind them down.

“Valkyr, I need help on my side!” Loki yelled over the clamor.

“I’m kind of busy over here, you know!”

“Fine, I guess I’ll die then!”

“You’ve handled worse, what makes this so bad?”

“Maybe the fact that  _ I am literally going to die if I don’t get help?” _

“Fine, but you owe me one.”

“I owe you?  _ I owe you? _ For fucking  _ what,  _ may I ask? Never mind, let me die in peace.”

“Excalibur, can you help Loki, who has fallen and can’t get up?”

“Only if you stop rubbing it in his face, Valkyr. We  _ do  _ still need each other, you know?”

“Fine, okay, just give him a hand.”

“Kids, stop fighting each other, please,” Oberon said, exhaustion subtly starting to creep into his voice.

Alad watched the whole exchange from his perch on the pods, saying nothing. He wondered how far each of them would wear the others down before this was over, and if this little group would even be together afterwards.


	10. Night 4: When the Going gets Tough

“Alad, can I ask you what the hell you’re doing?” Valkyr stood behind him, watching the Corpus hack away at a piece of an infested with Icefall.

“Well, I haven't eaten in four days and I can’t take it anymore.”  
  
“Oh right. Sheesh, you fleshy things have so much to maintain on top of making new fleshy things.”

“Well...you could put it that way, yeah.”

“...Can you even eat that?”

“Well I was infected by them, so maybe I got some kind of immunity?”

“Alad. Fucking. V. This is not like the weird pox that the human kids on Cetus get,  _ this is the infestation. _ ” 

“I am fully aware of that.”

“All I’m saying is that if you get infested again I’m not dragging my ass down to Tyl Regor’s labs to steal you a cure again. The only reason we helped you in the first place is because I got out voted.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Valkyr. Your comments will be noted and duly ignored. Besides, if I don’t eat, I’ll die anyway. So, I don’t really have that much to lose.”

“I was just offering some advice, Alad.”

“Well, do you have a better idea for what I can eat?”

“ ...How about the flower that Excalibur found?”

“...Do I look like a kuaka to you?” 

“Well…”

“Don’t answer that.” 

“Well how am I supposed to know what you can and can’t eat? It’s not like I know from experience.”

“...Do you know what humans eat?” 

“If I did, I would have said so, you kuaka-loving shit-fire.”

“Both of you pipe down, for the love of the Lotus!” Oberon said from the pillar where he was slumped over. 

“Or what, you’re gonna put us in time out? It’s not like we can go anywhere.” she taunted.

“Lay off him Valkyr, we’re all sick of this place just like you.” Excalibur said, jumping to Oberon’s defense. 

“Okay, you’re right. I just… I wanna go home.”

“We all do, Valkyr, but the Lotus needs us here to protect these pods.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, Alad, I didn’t mean what I said.”

“It’s alright, Valkyr. I know what this place does to beings, better than most.”

He finished sawing through the tough infested flesh and took a bite out of the piece. 

“What’s it taste like?”

“Bad. I feel like I’m trying to chew through a piece of the stuff they make the crew men's suits out of.”

“Then why are you still eating it?”

“Because I want to eat something, and this is the best option.” 

“Well, enjoy, I guess.” Valkyr stood up. “I’m going to take a walk, be back in a while.”

“Alright, Valkyr, but don’t go stirring up any trouble,” Oberon said, tiredly.

“I won’t go looking for trouble, if that’s what you mean. Besides, I’ve got Claudius with me, I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, take care of yourself, and be back before sunrise.”

“Okay, dad.” Oberon actually seemed to laugh at that before resuming his drained demeanor.


	11. Day 5: Rotted Through

The days were starting to blend together, Oberon noted. They fought all day for these pods, then talked the night away. Sometimes, nights would devolve into arguments, leaving everyone angry at each other. Most times, though, they just ran out of things to say. After all, though Oberon, one can only say so much before they start to repeat themself. And that was what it felt like, it was just days and nights on repeat. Tonight, though, there would be no arguing, vowed Oberon, as he fought silently. He looked at the cryopods again, hoping to see some sign of them waking up. Nothing. The pod on the left still contained it’s swirling darkness, and the ashy surface of the one on the right gave away no secrets. Oberon sighed, tempted to break them open himself. 

The day wore on, Alad furiously tinkering with something from his relative safety, while the others fought on. 

“They’re getting stronger, Oberon!” Excalibur yelled before being thrown across the room by an ancient

“Then fight harder, Excalibur! I want to see five hundred kills under your belt before dark!”

“Five hundred? You’re mad!”

“I think we broke Oberon.” Valkyr said.

“Nevertheless, Excalibur, now is the time to hone your fighting skills!” Oberon was starting to lose a little of his well-maintained control over his emotions, and he despised it. He was supposed to be the one that held the team together. He looked over everyone again. Excalibur’s shield never went above 100, Valkyr was her usual, murder happy self, and Loki...well, he remembered the tales Gara liked to tell of the Norse berserkers, and thought Loki was doing a pretty good job of demonstrating one.

Excalibur went flying again, and Oberon started to notice a pattern. Every time someone flagged, the enemy would vigorously attack the bare side, rendering them helpless. Loki was the first to pick up on this new tactic.

“Oberon! We need a new strategy, they’ve picked up on what we’re doing!”

“What do you mean?” 

“Every time someone falls back to recharge their shields, these gold faced bastards go buck wild on that side!”

Oberon cursed silently to himself. “Do you have any ideas?” he shouted across at Loki.

“Are you saying you don’t? We’re more screwed than I thought!”

“Just keep fighting, we’ll figure something out!” Oberon thought quickly, racking his brain for a solution. Then an idea popped into his head.

“Alright, everyone pair up! Go back-to-back, take turns fighting if you have to!” 

“Excalibur, get over here!” Valkyr yelled at him, bringing down another toxic ancient.

“Coming!”

“Looks like you’re with me, Loki.” 

“Joy.” He said sarcastically, glancing back at Valkyr.


	12. Night 5: All Work and no Play

Excalibur flopped down spread eagle on the ground, exhausted and covered in blood. Loki was slumped over in a corner, his arms slack, head between his legs. Valkyr was nearby, leaning against the wall, thinking. Oberon was with Alad, discussing the day's events, and how they might be better prepared for the next day.

“Hey, Valkyr, how do you fight so tirelessly?” Excalibur asked her.

“I just get angry, then burn that anger like fuel,” she replied.

“Yeah, she’s just always angry,” Loki said, bringing his head up.

“I didn’t say anything to you,” Valkyr frowned at him.

“Like I said, always angry.” Loki slumped again.

“Loki, please, not tonight.” Oberon asked.

“Why not, old man? Why don’t we just have this out and be done with it?”

“Because that might tear this whole squad apart, and we can’t afford that.”

“How about we have out what’s wrong with you?” Valkyr said accusingly. “What’s going on, why are you acting like this?”

“I’m not ‘acting’ like anything, kavat-in-boots. I’m simply sick and tired of everyone ignoring the fact that we are all getting tired of each other, while refusing to acknowledge it.” He looked significantly at Valkyr.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Well that’s what I said, so either revise your question, or be satisfied with my answer.”

“Who are you?”

“Um, who I’ve always been, dummy. Or did you not realize that until now?” Loki stood up.

“You’re acting like someone else. You’re not like this. I remember what you were like, when we first pulled you out of that Corpus hole. When Lotus finally snapped you out of your stupor. I know you and this is not you!” She stood up and faced him, fists clenched.

Loki glared at her. “And who are you to tell me who I am?”

“I’m concerned about you, we all are.”

“Well I’m saying that I’m fine. Or does my word not count for anything, anymore?”

“Look, can you all just shut up? I’m tired of listening to your constant bickering over the smallest things.” Oberon said, quietly. Loki and Valkyr didn’t seem to hear.

“What is your problem, Loki? What is your reason for treating the rest of us like dirt, like we aren’t even worth your time? What makes you think that’s okay with us?” Valkyr’s voice was now getting louder, and her anger being fanned hotter by Loki’s seemingly uncaring demeanor.

“There is no problem, everything’s fine!”

“How dumb do you think I am? Something’s wrong!” She whirled around to face Oberon. “And you. This goes beyond simple bickering, there is a serious, real problem here. Who stole your Orokin cells?”

“Will you all just shut the fuck up, or so help me, we will never leave this place!” Oberon’s anger was now white-hot, pushed beyond caring about hurting anyone’s feelings. “Can you not see what you are doing to yourselves?! Fighting amongst the ranks of the most elite fighters in this system! I can’t believe that you would actually go this far, and to assume that it is the fault of someone else? How far have you fallen, in your seemingly infinite honor, to have stooped to such a level?!”

At this outburst, the group fell silent. Oberon had never before even raised his voice at someone, let alone let his anger get the better of him. Oberon was the calm one, a pillar of strength and stability when everything and everyone else was falling apart. This mission was-had, gotten to even him.

Loki, after a pause, simply turned and stalked off. “Are you okay, Oberon?” Valkyr asked, quietly.

Oberon slumped over, the fight gone out of him. “Yes, Valkyr, and I am sorry for my outburst. I should practice more self-control.”

“No, it was our fault. I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have pushed you to that level.”

“You're right, about Loki, by the way. I'm sorry I said all that, when you were clearly telling the truth.”

Valkyr started walking in the direction Loki went. “I’ll try to find him and calm him down,” she said, quietly. “After all, it was my fault in the first place.”

“Okay, Valkyr. Be safe,” Oberon said, walking over to Excalibur, who was being guarded by Verdandi. She snarled at him, her thick coat of fur standing on end, making her already huge form even bigger.

"It's ok girl, down." Excalibur told her gently. She whined but backed off, laying next to him and putting her head in his lap. He stroked her neck and back, running his fingers through her soft pelt.

“Was I too hard on them, do you think?” Oberon asked him, sitting down.

“Well… Valkyr’s fears are well-founded; Loki has not been himself these last few weeks. But... she could have picked a better time to bring it up.” he paused for a moment. "Or maybe not. Maybe if we find out what's wrong sooner we can help him sooner."

"Possibly. I hope he'll be ok soon, and I hope you're alright too."

"I'm fine, I got Verdandi with me." He patted the giant kubrow's head, and she barked happily, wagging her short tail.

Meanwhile, Valkyr was wandering through the hallways, looking and listening for any sign of Loki.

"Loki?" she called, checking yet another empty room. Nothing. There was never a time where she hated his cloaking ability more than she did now. She had to find him before he did something irreversibly stupid, but then, she ehard something. Quiet sobs.

“Please stay away from me, Valkyr.” Loki’s voice echoed through the chamber.

"Come on Loki, where are you? Don't hide, please, I only want to help you."

“You can help by staying away from me. I’m not safe to be around.”

“What are you saying? Of course you’re safe to be around.”

“Please, Valkyr, don’t do this.”

"Loki I swear to the Lotus, please, don't do this."

Loki burst into view, facing away from Valkyr. “Fine, you want to do this, let's do this. Just...promise you'll believe me. How about you go first, hm?”

"Well, I'm here to help you, so I'll listen. Whatever you have to say, whatever is going on, just tell me."

"I…" he choked up, sounding like his throat was full of liquid. "I don't feel right. I don't know what's wrong with me but there's something wrong. I'm not meaning to act this way, but it just pours out. I'm not trying to be so awful to the team, I'm not trying to hurt you, Valkyr, never, but I just can't seem to stop it. I need help, I need help but I don't even know what's wrong in the first place.”

Valkyr couldn’t think of anything to say. Loki broke down in helpless sobs again. After a moment, she walked up to him, hugging him from behind. “Loki, I just want you to be you. That’s all,” she said quietly. “Just let it out, I’ll be right here.”

"I'm sorry...I'm so s-sorry. F-for everything. I've been...hurting you all this time. P-lease, forgive me, you are the last person I'd ever want to cause harm.”

The two of them sat down together, Valkyr holding him, letting him shake and cry against her chest and listening to him explain himself. What he told her was...quite disturbing.

“It feels like someone else is kind of...influencing my actions and words, infecting my personality with their own.”

“How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know! That’s just what I feel like, and I hate it. I’m scared...what if one day I start attacking one of you? I’d never forgive myself.” he broke down again.

“Shh shh, it’s ok, it’s ok. I know you’d never do that, at least not willingly. You’re good, I know that, we all do. I don’t know how to help you, but I promise I’ll find a way.”

“Thank you, Valkyr. You know...I really do like you quite a bit... hold you in very high regard.” he said, almost inaudibly, before going limp in her arms, probably from sheer tiredness. Valkyr pondered his words, They sounded like a confession of love, albeit a formal one. She looked at him again, completely zoned out and felt an odd twist in her heart as she carried him back to the cryos.

“Not a word, any of you.”

The rest of the night passed quietly.


	13. Day 6: From Behind a Glass Wall

Oberon was up in the wee hours of the morning, pacing a groove in the golden floor, racking his brain for any way to keep the team together. Everyone was beginning to go mad, with the exception of Alad, but for him, nothing here was worse than being Infested, so how could something so mundane ever compare? Said Corpus was sleeping like the dead, Valkyr sat watching Loki, still completely out of it, and Excalibur was playing short ranged fetch with Verdandi, her claws clicking on the hard floor whenever she ran after the empty ammo case he was using.

The Lotus watched all their troubles unfurl in the past five days, and her heart bled for them. So much turmoil she had caused by sending them on this mission. She had expected the pods to open much sooner, but evidently the nature of these two prevented that, and now her children were stuck here, clawing at the walls. She wanted badly to extract them, but if she did, the slumbering ones would be torn apart. 

Sacrificing four for two. A very unfair trade she thought. 

She was even worrying for Alad, which caught her by surprise. She had originally decided to pull him onto their side for no other reason than to prevent him from being a further thorn in their side, and to use his skills to their advantage, but she’d grown fond of him. Without the poison of the rest of the Corpus in his veins, he was a polite, very passionate man, still young by Corpus standards, and was proving far more willing to cooperate than she could have ever hoped. She did not want to see him perish here.

She would find a way to save all of them, the Lotus vowed.


	14. Night 6: Dour Dour Lotus Flower

“Well that sucked.” Oberon said, breaking the awkward silence night brought. There were groans of agreement from the other frames. “I’m calling for backup, we can’t keep doing this, and if anyone wants to argue...please don’t.” The announcement was met with silence and nods of agreement, and relieved, Oberon went off to send a distress message to any available frames. 

“You think anyone will come?” Excalibur asked when he returned.

“Maybe. I hope so, but it depends on the goodness of their hearts.” Oberon answered. “For now, we keep fighting. I know it’s hard, but we have to. These frames in here” he banged his hand on the one filled with darkness. “are our brother and sister in arms. We can’t abandon them, they’re helpless here, and we can’t let Lotus down like that. She’s counting on us. We’ve already come six days! We broke the record for the longest defense three days ago, I know we can all keep fighting. Ammo and energy are low, but our morale shouldn’t be. I know we can save them, and I know we can make it out of this alive, all of us. ”

The others seemed to perk up, even Loki, who was looking like someone dropped an Orokin tower in his shoulders. Just then, a communications alert came through.

"Who in the System could that be?" Valkyr question. Oberon accepted the request.

_ "Tenno."  _ The Lotus, sounding like she had been crying.  _ "Please, accept my apology. I never imagined you'd be stuck here for so long. I..."  _ she bit her lip.  _ "I've put you all into a terrible situation, and I'm so, so sorry.” _

“It’s alright, Lotus. There’s no way you could have known these two would be so stubborn.” Oberon said comfortingly. In truth, he was shocked at this display of emotion from the Lotus. Her usual displays were limited to motherly pride, not this...guilt and heartbreak.

_ “I should extract you, but I just can’t abandon these two. Would you stay, please?”  _

__ “Of course, we’ll stay, don’t worry.” Valkyr reassured her. "What would we be doing just leaving these two here?" Lotus looked relieved.

_ “Thank you all so much, I promise your valor will not go unrewarded. And Alad, it is time to make yourself useful. I want you to see if you can open those cryopods yourself.”  _

__ “Are you sure about that? Is that even a good idea?” He questioned.

_ “I want to get you all out as soon as possible. If that means waking them up earlier, then so be it.” _

__ “If you say so. I will...try my best, but no promises.” Lotus gave him a gentle, encouraging smile. 

_ “Whatever you can do Alad.” _

She stayed online with them the rest of the night, doing her best to soothe their worries. They talked about small, mostly inconsequential things, Lotus doing her best to take their minds off the situation while Alad cussed in Corpus like a Cetus fisherman in the background, inspecting the cryopods.

It was early in the morning when the Lotus finally ended the call, but she left them feeling much better, reinvigorated in their mission. Even Alad seemed to feel it, as he went about his task with much vigor.


	15. Day 7: Renwed Strength

"I think I'll have to apologise to your Lotus for doubting her." Alad said as he peered into one of the cryopods. "She really came through for you four." 

“We’re not out of the hole yet, though,” Valkyr said. “We still have to get these pods open.”

"I am doing my best, dearie, but this is harder than it looks. There isn't any...visible latch or anything I can pry at."

“Well, let’s worry about that later. We have other problems right now.”

" _ You  _ have other problems. Lotus specifically tasked me with this, remember?"

“Yes, I remember, now let _me_ focus on _my_ problems.”

"Like your fashion sense," he muttered under his breath.

“Valkyr, are we ready to go?” Oberon stood and walked over to her.

"Should be."

“Great. Now, remember, we’ve got to be doubly vigilant with these things, because Alad is quite squishy.”

“I’ll be sure not to let them juice him like a maprico,”

“Indeed, that would be very messy.”

“Oh is that  _ all? _ ” 

“Shut up and go back to your cryopods, Fridgehead.”

Alad was about to retort when the wail of a corrupted ancient cut him off. The frames sighed. Back to work it was.


	16. Night 7: The Long Haul

“Any luck with the cyros?” Excalibur asked, watching Alad scoot around them like a kubrow with fleas.

“If I ever meet a living Orokin I’m going to slap them.” he spat. “There is...nothing. Either I’ve gotten stupid, or this was meant to be shut and stay shut.” 

“Right...maybe you could force them to wake up somehow?”

“Great idea, if I knew how I absolutely would.”

“Maybe knocking on the top?”

“I wish it was that easy.”

“Maybe we could…I dunno. Smash them open?”

“I don’t think Lotus would like that very much.”

“The frames inside better be worth all this trouble.”

“You said it.” 

The group went silent, focusing on the problem at hand. Alad was sitting cross-legged with Oberon by the cryopods, lost in thought. Loki and Valkyr were sitting against a wall, cleaning their weapons. Excalibur was pacing the room, Verdandi following dutifully. Suddenly, her ears perked up and she put her nose in the air, sniffing.

“What is it girl?” he asked. She barked and trotted to the doorway that led to the hallway where he had his little excursion. She barked again. “Girl, there’s nothing down there,” but his voice was uncertain.

“You want me to follow you?” she tugged on one of the ribbons of his syandana, confirming. Even before they got to the end, Excalibur could see the veritable jungle of crimson flowers it had become. While most plants didn’t, or couldn’t grow here, the Lycoris were rioting, spilling out of the planter and filling the air with their odd smell.

“Well that’s not good.” 

“What's not good-holy shit.” Valkyr explained, coming up behind him. “This looks like Oberon’s wet dream.”

“Fuck you too!” He called down the hallway.

“Wait,” Valkyr said. “What if the flowers have something to do with why the pods haven’t opened?”

“Then they would be growing on the pods. Come on, you’re smarter than this!” 

“Things might be slightly better but I still want out. Forgive me for trying to think up solutions. Besides, that wasn’t what I was saying. What if we need the flowers to open the pods?” 

“...How?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

“You came up with the idea!”

“How about we just put the flowers near the pods?”

“Yop op ap eyepakk jkope!” 

“I think Alad heard you.” 

“Stop coming up with bad ideas!” 

“We’re just trying to help you, asshole!”

“Puyk opp you jepyk you ape a kipkepapye pop a kekk!”

“I don’t understand a word you just said but I assume it’s something along the lines of ‘fuck off’.

“Yes. Now fuck off.” 

“Fine, but don’t blame us when we’re here for another week.”

“I swear we’d better not be.”


	17. Day 8: No Amount of Prying

“Give it up for day eight everyone!” Oberon said cheerfully, to be met with the sounds of sarcastic cheers. “At least we’ve made it this far.”

“Yaaaaaaaay” 

“Please let me die.”

“I’m sick of getting thrown around like a ragdoll by sentients!”

“Puyk pkeye puykipp ypyokoky i yjeap po kopuy!” 

“I assume that means no luck?” Oberon asked the fuming Corpus. 

“It’s actually means ‘Fuck these fucking cryopods I swear to Lotus’ but yes. No luck.”

“You want to join us shooting stuff today? Might help you let off some steam.”

“...Fine, yes.” 

Oberon handed him his Baza.“Have fun!” 

“I hear them coming, everyone get ready,” Loki said, raising his Mios.

“Ok puyk yey!” Alad shouted before charging into the fray along with them.


	18. Night 8: The Mad Norseman

As soon as Alad threw his eyes open he knew he was dreaming, and yet it didn’t feel like a dream. Looking around he saw he was in what looked like an old Earth forest, the tall, needle covered trees scratching at the starry sky with their claw-like branches and fog twisting around their gnarled pillars, a cold breeze making it dance around them like running ghosts.

Without thinking, Alad started to walk through the old woods. There was no sound, other than his own footsteps, and the wind in the trees. After some time, the mist that was present started to disperse, revealing a previously hidden path, paved with dark stone. And since there was no other way to go, he decided to follow it.

The path twisted through the forest, making it impossible to know where he had and hadn’t already been. But since there seemed to be no other way through, Alad decided that he had no choice but to keep on. After what seemed like hours, the path ended in a clearing full to bursting with Lycoris, the red flower blooming wherever it could lay down roots. The whole place smelled like ashes, and felt out of place. The whole dream felt wrong, like a hole ripped in reality.

Then the howling came.

A lone, cold note splitting the night air that Alad felt throughout his whole body. At that moment, it didn’t seem to matter if it was a dream or not, for he began to fear for his life. Dream or no, Alad didn’t want to die here, mangled by whatever was out there. And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the howling stopped.

"Well, this is quite irritating, isn't it? You're not who I was looking for." A male voice, sounding both amused and irritated, and rather...creepy. There was something about how it sounded, the way his words flowed out that made him shiver.

“ ...And who would that be?”

“Not you, but it seems like you're the only one I can reach, and it's very strange. He has my name."

"What's your name?"

"I have quite a few, you'll have to be specific."

“The one you were created with, the one given to you from birth. Your real name.”

The stranger laughed.

"Someone taught you very well. Most wouldn't ask that. Ah, but real names have quite a bit of power, and besides, you already know it, as far as I can tell."

Alad paused. He had never met this stranger before, let alone learned his name. Then, the gears began to turn in his head. The stranger had said something, “He has my name.” Who did he mean, he wondered. Alad looked around the clearing, at the crimson flowers, but nothing rang a bell.

"Oh, this can't be that hard. A sword, a Valkyrie, the King of Fairies, and the god of fire."

"I don't know what you're expecting of me. It's not like I'm some kind of loremaster, you'd need someone else for that. Why don't you just tell me?"

"Where's the fun in that, eh? Come on, give it a guess, you've got a one in four shot."

“And if I don’t?”

"Well, not like I can do anything to you in a dream, except scare you, which, while fun in the moment, is not what I'm here for. Damn divinity." he griped.

“Fine, I can see that I have nothing to lose.” Alad considered his options. The stranger had said one in four chances, did he mean the four frames? That meant that he could safely discard Valkyr, being female. But which of the other three was the right choice? Oberon had to be the King of Fairies, and Excalibur was the name of a sword, according to the humans on Cetus. That left Loki as the God of Fire. But which one was this stranger in front of him?

Well, the obvious choice. The name of the frame that had been going mad even since before they came here, who was drawn to that flower like a moth to a flame.

"Loki. Your name is Loki."

"You got that faster than I thought.” The stranger-Loki said, if indeed this was Loki.

“It was rather simple to put two and two together. You’re the one making our Loki have a change of personality.”

“I’m...wait, what?”

“You’re changing him, influencing him. He’s becoming like you, or I assume like you, didn’t you know that?”

“I...didn’t.” he fell quiet, and finally slithered out of the tree he’d been hiding in.

"You don't...look how I expected." Alad said finally. He was a very tall man, but well built. His skin was pale, not pure white, but approaching it, which made his brilliant wavy crimson hair stand out even more. It faded to a dusty blonde at the end, swept up to keep it out of his face. His eyes were a deep emerald, and very bright, and his mouth was ringed with fangs, his canines slightly longer than the rest. He paced around the clearing, his cloak sweeping behind like a tattered shadow, hands in claws.

“Influencing him...I should have known that would happen, I didn’t think dammit.”

“It’s not intentional?”

“Not in the slightest. I’m a bit cold, I’m not outright malicious like that.” Loki paused for a moment and turned back to Alad. “I have to go, find some other way to talk to him, some other time”

“Why do you need to in the first place?”

“Due to the fact that he has my name, I feel this...pull to him, almost. We’re linked together now. At the very least, I want to meet him and see if he wears it better than most.”

“So it’s your presence that’s making these flowers grow as well?”

“Yes, most likely. In any case, apologies for hijacking your dreams like this. I’ve seen a bit more in your head than I feel you’d like. I’ll give you some advice though, before I leave. You’re very...conflicted about your position here, yes?” he questioned.

Alad paused for a moment, unsure of how to answer. It was true, as much as he’d come to accept, even enjoy his position with the Warframes and their Lotus, he was still an outsider and a former enemy, and there was still a part deep inside him that told him he could go back and reclaim his place with the Corpus, like it was his destiny to do so. He nodded slowly.

“Sometimes, why?”

“Whatever you think your fate is...it’s not. You have control over where you end up. It’s not your fate to go back to being an evil _drittsekk_. Do as you please, change yourself as you will, it’s not for anyone else to decide. Ragnarok was my fate, yet here I am, and it never happened.” Loki looked like he wanted to say more, but froze. “I have to go now. Do me a favor and don't tell him about this, would you?” He nodded wordlessly, and Loki smiled like the Cheshire cat, showing off all his teeth. “Good.”

Alad toppled off his perch and hit the golden floor, wide awake.


	19. Day 9: The Monotony

“Oberon, can I kick these damn cryopods?” Valkyr asked, glaring daggers at the offending objects. 

“I wish, because I’d be kicking them right along with you, but I don’t think the Lotus would approve.”

“Has Alad had any luck at least?”

“No.” the Corpus answered her, yawning.

“You look dead on your feet. Did something happen?” Oberon questioned. 

“Only the last nine days,” Alad responded.

“No like...something specific.” 

Alad paused, considering what to tell the rest of the group. “I will...tell you later.”

Oberon gave Alad a hard look, but decided not to press the issue further. They had foes to slay.

So they fought on, repeating the process of mowing down everything in their way or getting slammed into walls like ragdolls. An unending cycle as monotonous as the tides.


	20. Night 9: Time Alone Shall Murder All The Flowers

The squad sat around the cryopods slumped with exhaustion.

“So, we’ve been here for nine days now. Any declarations?”

“I declare this mission insane, and I am not coming here again as long as I live,” Valkyr exclaimed loudly.

“I second that!” Excalibur said, curled in the fetal position a few feet away, Verdandi nudging him. He reached up and scratched her between the ears.

“I’ve been trying to open these things with no luck, so I will third it. Screw this place, and screw the Orokin.” Alad sighed, dejected.

“I’ll fourth it. This place is...too much...but…” Oberon stopped, unable to communicate what he was feeling.

“But what?” Valkyr questioned.

“It feels...lighter somehow. Like something's that has been affecting it...left this place.”

Alad shifted around uncomfortably.

“Yeah, I feel that too. What about you Excalibur?”

“I don’t know, I just want to leave,” Excalibur said, sitting up. “I will have no fond memories of this place.”

“Yeah we all do, but doesn’t it feel different?”

“I...yes, it does. Like some kind of weight was taken off it.”

“I don’t know what you two are talking about,” Valkyr sulked. “It feels like death, decay, like you’re never going to leave this accursed place. Wait...Loki, how do you feel?”

“I feel much better now, actually.”

“ _ WHAT? _ ” The three frames said in unison.

“Yeah, it’s super weird. It’s like...my brain was frozen in an ice cube, but now the ice has melted, and I'm free again.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Oberon questioned, suspicious.

“I feel better.” He said simply. “I feel like myself again.”

“So...do you know why? Or are you just as clueless as the rest of us?” Valkyr asked.

“I wish I knew, but I don’t. I'm just glad it is.” 

“Well, we’re glad, then,” Oberon said, relieved.

"It  _ is  _ a relief to know you won't slit our throats suddenly." Excalibur added. "Hey, I just thought of something."

“What’s that?” Valkyr asked, tiredly.

"That hallway, the rooms, the flowers, everything. I wonder if it changed."

“Probably not. Why would it?”

"I just have this gut feeling."

“Well, go check it out, then,” Valkyr joked, poking at him. 

"Uh...you come too since you're so skeptical."

"Let's all go." Oberson interjected. "I want to see this.”

Excalibur led the way down the hall, trying to look braver than he felt, with Alad lingering suspiciously behind. Looking in the rooms, they found…nothing. Absolutely nothing strange, just regular Orokin rooms. No proof that there had ever been anything funny except the faint smell of smoke. They made it to the end hall, where a strange sight greeted them. The Lycoris were still there, but dry and wilted, their crimson petals carpeting the floor like a bloodstain. Alad's hands shook behind his back.

"They-they're all-"

"Dead." Alad finished for Excalibur, his silver gaze locked on the shriveled blooms. However dead, the odd smell of pine needles and ashes still remained, albeit fainter.

“Well, Alad, you were right about plants not lasting long here.” 

"I...well this isn't very normal." He said, before he could stop himself. "They died so quickly, you all only started feeling better  _ today. _ They would not have wilted so soon. It would have taken a few days." he finished, slapping himself mentally for not keeping his mouth shut.

“Well, Alad, what would have been normal?” Loki questioned him.

"Dying over a few days I just said! I think your helmet's on too tight, you can't hear jack!"

“That isn’t what I meant, Alad. I meant, why do you think there is a link between these flowers, and us feeling better?”

"Because it's all too fast! Since you're better now, they should have just started wilting and  _ yet they're completely dead already. _ "

“Are you saying we all felt horrible because of some flower? Doesn’t that seem a little implausible?”

"No no no, not cause of the damn flower, you imbecile!" 

"Alright, everyone, stop freaking him out” Oberon said.

“I’m just trying to get Alad to say what he isn’t saying.”

“There is nothing I’m not saying, I don’t know either!”

“Fine, I’ll leave it alone,” Loki said, still suspicious of Alad. Said Corpus looked relieved. 

It really seemed like a bad idea to break a promise to a god, especially one with teeth like  _ that _ .


	21. Day 10: You've Got Mail

“Woo, day 10 everyone!” Valkyr said with false cheerfulness, throwing some of the dead Lycoris petals that she had picked up like confetti. Alad couldn’t help wondering if that was sacrilegious. 

“Hurray,” muttered Excalibur, wondering if they would ever leave.

“Ah yes, praise the Lotus, halle-fucking-lujah.” Oberon said.

“I think that’s the most negative emotion you’ve shown since our fifth day here.”

“No, it was on the fifth night,” Valkyr said.

“That’s what I meant.”

“Oh, I just realized I had a message for like, three days and didn’t check it.” Oberon stated, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Really? You got a message? Here?” Valkyr said with mock severity.

“It’s from Harrow.” he said, ignoring her. 

“What does the Gun Priest want?” 

It says ‘got your message, will get some others and come soon, hang tight, Void’s blessings on you.’”  
“He’s bringing help?” Excalibur sat up, attentive.

“Well he said he would but it’s been about three days since I got that message, so who’s to say when they’re going to be here.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, we’re going to be stuck here a while.”

“Maybe not.” Alad piped up from the cryos. He tapped on the one filled with blackness.

“What’s going on over there, Alad? You make a breakthrough?” Oberon asked.

“No, but the frame inside is, I think. There are scratches on the inside.”

Everyone paused, thinking the same thing. It was Valkyr who popped the question.

“How long do you think we have, Alad?”

“Not a clue, but most likely, it’ll be very soon, and when this one wakes up, the other one will too, I assume.”

“Well let’s hope it’s soon, because I hear goldfaces!”

Everyone let out a collective groan and headed to battlestations, readying themselves to face another day. Everything was going as usual.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Loki asked his teammates.

“Hear what?” Excalibur asked, then he heard it as well. Singing.

"Oh please tell me that's who I think it is." Valkyr begged, glancing up at the entrance. Amid the tide of golden shrieks and the music, an unfamiliar voice shouted above the din.

"Need some help?"

Harrow had brought the cavalry, quite a few of their strong and equally bored friends. 

"Void bless you, you bastard!" Oberon exclaimed, clapping him on the back. "Who'd you bring?"

"Oh just a few, Khora, Octiavia, Chroma, Ivar-" Oberon dashed off before he could finish, calling her name. 

"Umbra is going to be very sorry he missed this." Garuda told Excalibur as they hacked away. 

“Why’s that?” Excalibur wondered, barely missing getting hit in the face by a severed arm.

"He loves this kind of free melee, and so do I!" 

“I’ll be sure to tell him all about it, he’ll probably want to go over my mistakes in training.”

"You know he's only trying to help you." Equinox chided, coming up next to him. 

“I know,” Excalibur said. “I just wish he’d be more...emotional, I guess.”

"Believe me, sometimes, so do I." Garuda muttered. 

The fight raged on, but for the original four warriors, it was no longer a burden. Harrow had pulled through for them in a big way, bringing eleven others, aside from himself, and the tide of battle turned. No longer were they relegated a few feet between them and the cryopods. A red ring of fallen foes now filled the large space between them.

Meanwhile, Oberon was in the middle of his reunion with Ivara, while fighting enemies at the same time. 

“So, Oberon, how did you get into this mess?” Ivara asked, cheerfully.

"Ah, you know, when the Lotus asks you something, you do it. How did Harrow drag you into this? You're far too smart to come here of your own free will."

"The day I leave my one and only fighting for his life is the day I turn in my bow." 

“How long did it take you to get here? I only read the message Harrow sent last night." 

"Oh, we had some...technical difficulties, ran into Tyl Regor, but we all came here in one piece.” 

“And I’m glad; I don’t want to be stranded here for who knows how long, and without you.” 

"Yo Oberon, come look at this!" Vauban waved him over to the cryopods, where he and Chroma were giving them a good look over.

“What’s going on?” Oberon questioned, walking over.

"Take a look at these new scratches. They're massive, they almost cut through the glass." Chroma said, pointing with a golden claw. “Imagine what this one will be doing once he’s out.”

“I’ve been wondering about that, and the weird dark mist. Any ideas what he can do?” Oberon asked. They discussed this at length while bashing in heads.

Meanwhile, Wisp had found Excalibur, overjoyed to see him still in one piece. Verdandi was happy to see her too, bringing her the leg of her most recent kill. 

"Your kubrow is very...murderous. It's cute."

Excalibur looked proudly at her. “I think she’s benefited more from Umbra’s training than I have.”

“You know that Umbra cares very much for you, and I’m sure you used his training well here.” Wisp took his head in her hands. “I missed you, you know,” she whispered.

"Being here would have been much more bearable if you had been with me."

“Well I’m here now, so there’s no need to worry about anything.” She ducked as an enemy shot at her. “And we have things to do, so get busy.”

"Right!" 

Khora and Nekros were fighting back-to-back by the cryopods, Nekros with his scythe he pulled off the Stalker's corpse, Khora and her kavat Venari using steel and claw. Harrow was running around and acting like, well, Harrow, yelling about the void and shooting anything that looked at him funny. With their combined efforts, the golden foes were pushed further and further back. Things were finally looking up.


	22. Night 10: Wake up, Tenno

"Oberon, you said they stopped coming round this time!" Equinox yelled at him while reviving a very dazed looking Nidus. 

"They usually do!" He yelled back, mind spinning.

“Then please explain to me why they are still here, and still coming!”

"I don't know!" 

“Would you two please stop fighting, and help us?!” Valkyr yelled at them across the room. “We’re about to go under here!”

"GUN PRIEST!" Harrow yelled and rushed to Valkyr's side, drawing his Knell.

Valkyr took a deep breath, shaking her head. “Yep, gun priest, eh, Harrow?”

"Oh I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of me having just saved your ass."

“Thank you, Harrow, I’m glad that  _ someone _ did.”

"VALKYR I AM GETTING MAULED OVER HERE, LAY OFF." Excalibur snapped.

“Please stop fighting, everyone,” Oberon sounded weary as he spoke. “There’s no telling how much longer we’ll be here, and we can’t afford infighting amongst ourselves.”

"This one looks...angry." Wisp said, staring past the scratched glass into the swirling black depths of the cryopod. Then from the darkness, a fist looking like it was carved out of obsidian, black and jagged, hurtled out…

...straight through the glass. 

Wisp backed up with a cry. The sound of shattering echoed through the golden hall, even above the racket of combat. All eyes turned to the cryopod. 

The remaining glass gradually fell into the pod, letting the swirling black smoke out of the interior chamber. Then the whole front of the cryopod exploded outward, crashing against a wall. Out lept a jagged black shadow of a frame, an abyssal cape flowing from his shoulders, the only thing breaking up his darkness was his neon blue emitters.

Mani, the lunar dragon, beast of the shadows. The black mist coiled at his feet like a serpent.

_ “Mani!”  _ the Lotus called excitedly. Excalibur was the first one to the new frame, offering a hand. Mani took it and staggered to his feet, shaking his dragon-like head. 

“Where’s my sister?” he asked, concerned.

“She’s not out yet. I’m sure she will be soon though.” Exaclibur reassured, gesturing to the ash-coated pod. “I’m Exaclibur, by the way.” 

“Mani. It looks like you’re in the middle of something…”

“Yeah, we’ve...been here a while, waiting for you two. And we’re at least halfway there, so that’s a plus, I guess.”

“I’m sorry for causing you all of this trouble.”

“It’s nothing,” Valkyr said, sidling up next to him. “Just...think you can help us out till your sister wakes up? I know you don’t have a weapon, but-” 

“I have my fists.” he declared before sprinting off into the fray, but still staying near his sleeping sibling. 

“He certainly seems eager,” Oberon said. 

“I wonder what he can do.” Octvavia said, watching Mani tear with his claw tipped fingers.

“Well, he can do  _ that _ , for starters,” Valkyr chimed in. “Which is very good.” 

The group watched Mani tear around the room, ripping enemies to shreds, seemingly without even breathing hard. It almost seemed like something out of one of Cetus’ legends, when the sound of crackling, melting glass drew their attention, and his as well.

“Sol!” Mani cried, dashing for the cryopod. Some kind of internal heat was making it melt inward on itself. Mani thrust his claws into the lid and pulled, soon joined by Chroma and Vauban. Together, they ripped it off and out fell Sol. She looked more like a prime frame, in her gleaming, fiery white and gold. On her arms where feathers of a brilliant orange, gradienting to yellow. A series of elegant ribbony feathers flowed down, forming a tail like a peacock’s, swishing and fanning around her. On her head was a long orange frill of the same ribbony feathers, arcing over her helmet, ending almost at the nape of her neck.

“Mani!” she shouted joyfully when she saw him, standing and running to him on shaky legs. He held his sister close. “Oh Mani, that was awful!”

“Yeah, I know Sol, I know, but look on the bright side. We’re out now!” he gestured around them, and to the frames that had protected them.

Just then, they received a call. “ _ Tenno, get to extraction, _ ” the Lotus said, relieved. “ _ You have gone far above what I expected of you. _ ”

It was Oberon who answered. “Well, I can’t say it was a pleasure, Lotus, but we would do it again if we had to.”

“SPEAK FOR YOURSELF BAMBI!” Loki yelled, sprinting towards extraction. 

“We’ll talk about that later, Loki. Let’s get out of here. Someone grab Salad and let’s go!”

“...Where is Alad?” 

Alad, by some miracle, was sleeping in a quiet corner of the room, away from all the comotion, and so had no idea of what had happened. He awoke to someone jostling him, and opened his eyes to see every frame staring at him, inches from his face.

“Aww, he’s adorable!” Sol said, peering at him from behind Mani.

“How the  _ fuck _ did you manage to fall asleep in here?” 

Alad glared at Valkyr. “It isn’t hard when you haven’t slept in days, Valkitty.”

She huffed at him. “I’ll get you back later, Salad. But for now, let’s get out of here. I’m  _ not _ carrying you, by the way.”

The team made a mad dash for the exit. Even the frames Harrow had brought were already sick of it, except Harrow himself, who Khora practically dragged away.

"C'mon Khora, give me five minutes!"

"Harrow, stop acting like Venari when I give him DNA stabilizers! We're  _ leaving,  _ Gun Priest."

“I will return, heathens! You will see your judgement then!” he turned to Khora and said in a low voice. "And  _ you  _ owe me. I'll see you in my chains soon." 

“Only if you wear them after.”

"We'll see about that. We both know they look better on you."

"Hey lovebirds, we're leaving!" Nidus called down the hall.   
  


“We’re coming, we’re coming, keep your skirt on!”

"I don't wear a skirt!" 

“You should have, it would have been funny!” Nidus simply turned around and left, Harrow and Khora following.


	23. Epilogue: All Wrapped Up

"Umbra, you look suddenly more pissed than usual." Excalibur pointed out, wondering if he should back away from his mentor. 

“Well, how would you feel if you missed a chance to do something you love doing?” Umbra shot back at him. Then he relaxed, straightening. “Nevertheless, you can still show me what you learned,” He said, a hint of smugness in his voice. Excalibur looked at Garuda, who shrugged helplessly.

"I..uh...I learned Verdandi is probably smarter than me."

Umbra paused, unsure of what he had heard. “Okay, we can work with that.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

The new frames were getting to know their way around the relay and meeting the other frames. Sol turned out to be very social, while Mani hung back, keeping an eye on her but not really interacting, except when she dragged others over to meet him. Sol was a small wonder among them, with her bright colors and wings, which she kept folded against her arms when not in use. 

Mani was being watched by most of the male frames, as he was something of a curiosity. They had heard how he did not need weapons, and they all wanted to get their own look at this new frame. He knew they were watching, feeling their gaze on him, but never spared them a moment. He was busy making sure his sister was okay, watching out for any sign of backstabbing from anyone. He got a bad impression from Saryn, but nobody else. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Valkyr hunted down Alad, who despite looking dead on his feet, agreed to answer her questions before he passed out. 

“So, did you ever make any sort of breakthrough to opening the cryopods?”

“If I had, Valkyr, I would have done it. But no, the means for getting into them from outside was beyond me. But that's not what you're really here to ask, is it?”

"Fine, yes, it's not. I still want to know about your dreams."

Alad paused, unsure if telling her would break his promise. “I...don’t know that I can tell you. Promise me you won't tell Loki.”

“I promise. I’ll even pinky-promise if it will make you feel better.”

“Hardy har. I don’t even know if you’ll believe me, so reserve your snark for after, ok?”

“Fine.”

Alad looked around nervously, feeling his skin crawl. “I highly doubt you’ll believe me, but here goes. I met someone, someone powerful. I...he...his name was Loki. But not _our_ Loki, this one was different.” Alad peered over his shoulder. 

“What, are you afraid he’s watching you, or something?”

“Kind of yes. I know it sounds ridiculous, but if you’d met him...there was something so eerie about him, the way he moved, the way he spoke, languid, almost ghostly, and I can’t help but feel that if I say the wrong thing he’ll come to me in my sleep again, only this time he’ll slit my throat.”

Valkyr looked incredulously at him. “How is that possible? You can’t kill someone in their dreams, right?”

“I don’t know, that’s just how it felt!”

“Obviously kind of like how you feel now?”

“Obviously. I just...I don’t know, it’s all so strange, and I can’t even be sure that dream was real, and yet when he left all those flowers died and _our_ Loki got better, so it must have been.”

“Well, what did he say?” Valkyr was curious now.

"Well...he wanted to meet our Loki."

“Um, how is that possible? We’re talking about different dimensions here, aren’t we?”

"Magic, I guess."

“Well, we’ll worry about that when we get there, I guess. What else did he say? Why does he want to meet him? If that jackass thinks he can just waltz into our dimension like that and do whatever he wants to my Loki, I'll punch him in the stomach and watch his guts fly out the other side!” she proclaimed, balling her fists. Alad noted her saying "my" Loki, but wisely chose not to bring it up.

"I don't know how successful you'd be in that." 

Valkyr decided to hold her words, wondering whether he noticed her little slip. “When is he coming?”

"He won't be, at least for a while. He said he felt a link to ours because the Orokin gave him his name. Apparently that invoked him somehow? In any case, he didn't realize he was harming our Loki until I told him. He actually seemed very guilty about it. "

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about that for a while.” Valkyr visibly relaxed. "All that matters is that our Loki is ok."

"And that we all made it out of there alive."

“Well there’s that dream covered.”

“Did I mention another one?”

“Well, you also mentioned that you dream of me killing you?”

“Oh that! Yeah, it’s a recurring thing.” 

“Why? As far as I’m concerned, we’re even. You ripped me open, I beat you to near death on Jupiter, and even if I wanted to kill you, Lotus says that’s a big no no.” she fell quiet for a moment then added. “Are you afraid of me?”

“I...yes. I guess I am. It’s fair, isn’t it?” 

“Well, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it a long time ago. For example, when you first came here, I could have done it then, maybe even killed you, or hunted you down on my own time before you came here, or killed you while you were a mutalist. Back then, it might have been worth the wrath of the Lotus, but who knows? I...don’t hate you now, which is surprising, even to me. How about you? How do you feel about me?”

“Uh...guilty, mainly. I did what I did in the name of science, without thought or time for a conscience. I didn’t think you were living or had any sentience. I thought you were all robotic, and even when I opened you up and found that I was wrong, heard you screaming in pain and pleading for mercy I kept going. Maybe...I keep having that dream because...it’s what I really deserve. You really should have hunted me down, and torn me open. I would apologize, if it would help, but it won’t.” 

Valkyr wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She wasn’t used to the feeling of having someone apologize for experimenting on her, taking her apart, and putting her back together. Did he really mean it, or was this another one of his experiments, his mind games, to gauge her reaction? She looked into his brilliant silver eyes, and saw no malice, only remorse. Looking inward, she was surprised to find she felt no anger for Alad anymore, no red-hot fire of revenge. Only sadness remained, the loss of a large portion of her thought process leaving only a pit in its absence. She wondered what to say.

“Alad, I...I accept your apology.” She was stunned to hear those words aloud, spoken by herself.

Alad, in turn, was also surprised. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, Alad, I accept your apology.”

“Are...are you sure? I did some terrible things to you, don’t apologize just to make me feel better.”

“That’s not it at all, Alad. I’ve been holding this anger inside of me for a long, long time, and I think it’s time to let it go. I forgive you, Alad.”

“I...thank you for your mercy. It’s not what I would have done, but maybe that just means you’re that much better of a person than I am. Change comes too slowly.”

“Too much change at one time will break a person, at least that’s what Oberon says.”

Valkyr stepped forward and embraced a shocked Alad, who lost his balance as soon as she released him. 

“Don’t go thinking this is going to make me soft on you, Salad.” Valkyr said, trying to hide the catch in her voice.

“I won’t, considering that felt more like it was from Tyl Regor. You’re a tough kitty.”

She huffed at him, but couldn’t hide the smile in her voice. “I am what you made me, Alad.”

“Maybe now you can help make me into something better.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you there.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Loki was in a corner of the relay, cleaning his weapons. They had sustained quite a few stains on their adventure, some of which were proving hard to remove. Just as he was ready to call it quits for the day, Excalibur walked up with Wisp by his side.

“Hey, Loki, are you okay after all that? Some major things happened to you, and we were just wondering if you needed something?”

“Oh, hello. I’m fine, surprisingly. I feel better now than I have in weeks. Whatever was going on seems to have...dissipated.”

“That’s great, we’re glad to have you back to your normal self,” Wisp said softly. Turning to Excalibur, she said, “We should really check on Alad, shouldn’t we?”

“Yeah, just to make sure that he doesn’t have any...lingering effects. Bye, Loki!”

“Until later, Excalibur, Wisp.” Loki turned his attention back to his weapons, considering resuming polishing them. Then, shaking his head, he stood up, only to have Valkyr run right into him.

“Hey, Valkyr, how’s it going?” he said, not quite looking at her.

“Oh, just fine, considering where we just were. How are you?” she asked, tentatively.

“Me? I’m great, much better now, thanks.” 

The two fell into an awkward silence. Valkyr considered telling him about the other Loki, but rejected the idea. She had something more pressing to ask him about.

“This is hard for me to ask but...are you in love with me?”

“Uh...we just got back from a record defense mission, and that’s the first thing you worry about?”

“Kinda, yeah! I mean, we’re all alive and well, and honestly if I don’t ask you now I doubt I’d ever be able to overcome the awkwardness. 

“Well…” Loki was unsure how to answer. “I...well yes, I am, but I’m not sure how safe that actually is.” 

“Safe?” 

“Well...what if what happened, happens again? What if it’s worse?”

“You really think I couldn’t handle you?” she said, even though that annoying little voice reminded her that he’d gotten the better of her when the first met. She told that annoying little voice to go fuck itself/

“I don’t doubt that you could, but what if you didn’t get to me in time? I just...don’t want to hurt you, and I don’t even know if you like regular me.”

Valkyr couldn’t believe what she had heard. “You don’t even know...If I didn’t like the regular you, Loki, I wouldn’t be here right now. When you’re not going bananas for some reason, you’re probably the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. I like that, honestly. You’re not trying to act all tough and badass to impress me, you’re just...sweet and cute. I’m not sure how to explain it exactly, but I like the way you act.”

Loki looked flustered, and if he had had a visible blush, he would be as red as the Lycoris.

“I’m in love with you, Loki. That’s why I’m here right now, instead of somewhere else. That’s why I care about you, Loki. I just want to know if I’m just being foolish, if I should be wasting my time somewhere else.”

"You saying that now just made all ten of those days worth it."

Valkyr was overjoyed, but wanted to make sure. “I want to hear you say it, Loki. Do you love me like I love you?”

"I love you, Valkyr. You've done more for me than even Oberon, and he practically saved my ass while you were beating it."

Valkyr made a sound reminiscent of a happy kavat, and hugged Loki. He returned the embrace readily, then looked up to notice Excalibur, Oberon, and Umbra standing behind them. Loki immediately released Valkyr, who also turned around, then almost fell over in surprise.

“Uh...how long have you been there?” Loki asked the group.

"A while, this was all Umbra's idea." Excalibur said quickly.

Loki looked at Valkyr. “Well, it looks like the secret is out, huh?”

"I tell you all this from the bottom of my heart. Fuck you." She said, before grabbing Loki and running off into an abandoned corner of the relay.

“Should we follow them again?” Excalibur asked, excited.

“No, let them have their time.” Oberon knew exactly how they felt, and knew they needed their space. "Maybe she'll be able to get to the bottom of this whole mess." He added, almost as an afterthought.

Umbra turned to Excalibur, saying, “Be prepared for training tomorrow morning, we’re going into action. Extra-heavy action.”

"We'll prep your coffin." Oberon said to him quietly as he walked past.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Alad stood on the edge of the relay, looking out into the void of gleaming stars cast out over the blackness like a silvery net. His heart had an odd twist in it that he couldn't quite put a finger on. Mani came and stood next to him.

"It's beautiful." the black dragon whispered, gazing outward.

"A beautiful mess, but yeah, it is."

"Makes me worried about what I got my sister and I into." he joked.

"You'll both be fine, you're Warframes. I'm just an ex Corpus scientist trying to get by on a new team."

“I know you’ll do fine. You did well for us, and we’re both grateful for your efforts.” 

"I didn't do much, all things considered. Thought that counts?" 

“Thoughts count for much more than many people realize, you know.”

The two stood in silence for a moment. Then, Mani put his hand on Alad’s shoulder, saying, “You aren’t as bad as the others made you out to be, Alad. I see much good in you, and you will do much in the time to come to further the Tenno cause.”

Alad V looked at him, and nodded his thanks. All in all, today was a good day. Maybe this would become a trend, these good days.


End file.
